Govt Did Nothing Worth Mentioning

<br>Bharat Mohan Adhikary

From killing Constituent Assembly to promoting rampant corruption and working against the national interest, Baburam Bhattarai led government has done all kinds of anti-national works in the last one year. Due to price hike in essential commodities, the life of common people has become difficult. However, the government has not cared much about the people and they are protecting their own chair at the cost of the country’s interest.

Baburam Bhattarai-led government is one of the worst governments in the history of Nepal. During its year in office, this government has taken a number of issues to defame Nepal’s interest and interest of the people. The price hike in petroleum products and other commodities has made the life of common people difficult. For a commoner and poor, the life is virtually impossible. This government has committed many sins against the interests of the country and the people. I don’t think there is any mentionable decision it has taken over the time.

The government has been consistently interfering in bureaucratic affairs while the prime minister claimed to be promoting good governance. When there is rampant corruption at all levels, prime minister Bhattarai’s call for good governance is just hollow. By signing BIPPA agreement with India, Bhattarai government sold out Nepal’s interests. It kept other parties in the dark, ignoring diplomatic protocol while participating in bilateral talks with India and secretly awarding an Indian company the contract to upgrade the Tribhuvan International Airport and other 15 domestic airports. In the name of providing relief, the government is encouraging corruption at all levels.

The Maoist-Madhesi coalition made a mockery of the prime minister´s austerity measures by forming a 49-member cabinet, the largest ever in the country´s history. Not only this, the government also appointed a large number of political advisors and encouraged nepotism in almost all appointments. This is the reason that this government should not continue any longer.

Despite our flexibility in settling the current political impasse, the government has been trying to further deepen mistrust between the major political parties by forming an alliance of “pro-federalists” and terming others as anti-federalists. The prime minister and his party have invited confrontation by further polarizing the political forces and giving inflammatory statements.

Along with violating constitution, the present coalition has also made a mockery of the rule of law by seeking clemency from the president for Maoist-lawmaker Balkrishna Dhungel, who has been convicted of murder. There are other incidents where the government violated the unconstitutional provision, guided by partisan interests of the ruling parties. The present government had announced several populist programs but the government did nothing to implement them. In practice, everything is just the opposite. The prices of daily necessities have skyrocketed. The government hiked petroleum prices four times within the year. The government also failed in the development front as the government has not taken any initiative to generate electricity and to control leakage from the national grid. The country will have to see the severe power cut in the coming days due to failure of the government to execute any new programs. The government also bulldozed the houses in urban areas not giving any compensation. This showed that this is a despotic government. The government has embezzled state funds and is trying to run the government through ordinances. This government has no moral and legal ground to continue in power as this is just a care taker government. Our party holds the view that the longer this government lasts, the more the damage it will incur to the country’s interests.